Pierre Bensusan - the ‘Mozart of the guitar’

Pierre Bensusan.

By Kernan Andrews

PIERRE BENSUSAN, the great French-Algerian guitarist returns to Galway to play the Róisín Dubh on Sunday November 4 at 8pm.

Admired by metal/rock guitar wizards like Steve Vai as much as by folk guitar greats such as Davy Graham, Pierre is one of the instrument’s most acclaimed and innovative players. The 2008 recipient of Guitar Players Reader’s Choice Award for Best World Music Guitar Player, he is widely and affectionately known as ‘the Mozart of the guitar’.

Singer-songwriter Carly Simon said “Pierre Bensusan’s music is a gift”. Former Pentangle member John Renbourn said: “Pierre’s music has taken me on incredible journeys, along the route of the steel string guitar, heading into a new world.”

Pierre describes his own music thus: “My hope is always to create music that becomes part of the fabric of people’s lives. It’s there for your enjoyment and it won’t disturb you, but if you do stop and pay closer attention, you might be magically roped into something you could not have imagined.”

Tickets are available at www.roisindubh.net, from the Ticket Desk at OMG, Shop Street (formerly Zhivago), and The Róisín Dubh.